It’s no secret that social media is being used everywhere – from people updating their Facebook profiles from their smart phones to companies creating social media campaigns and engaging with consumers on Twitter.  That’s why at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker, we’re lucky to have Teresa Siles on our team, our firm’s director of social media and recent recipient of the word-of-mouth marketing certificate from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

The Word of Mouth and Social Media Marketing Certificate Program is a six-week Webinar curriculum with courses such as “Word of Mouth & Ethics” and “Requirements for Successful Social Media Tools & What Not To Do.”  All instructors are social media and marketing industry leaders who have become influencers due to their success in the arena – a feat Teresa has truly achieved since joining NST in 2001 as an intern.  Teresa is not only a two-time graduate of WOMM-U or “Word of Mouth Marketing University,” but she has also helped lead our firm’s interactive and social media efforts for many clients.  By incorporating new strategies and best practices that she has learned as part of the certificate program into future campaigns, Teresa will continue to drive NST’s social media capabilities, which range from social media monitoring to strategic outreach on sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

To learn more about Teresa’s “lessons learned” in social media, check out her past posts on the certificate program, including topics on social media strategy, Web design for Web 2.0,  blogger outreach and the effectiveness of social media.

Explore, Evaluate and Engage

We’ve already talked about first making sure social media is an appropriate tactic to support your marketing, communications and branding strategies.  Creating a Twitter or Facebook page because it makes you look young and cool is hardly a strategic decision.  As Dan Schawbel, author of Me 2.0 notes, “the single biggest mistake people make is that they either brand themselves just for the sake of doing it or that they fail to invest time in learning about what’s in their best interests.”  First, you’ll want to explore what people are saying about your brand in the social space, evaluate how open your company is to criticism and whether you have the resources to manage the page, then engage with people in a way that’s transparent and adds value to others.

Consistent Communication

Consistency is king in social media.  Everything from your “About” or “Bio” section to what messages you post should be consistent with other communication, and you should engage on a regular basis (without posting too often).  Multiple personalities from one source don’t work well in social media.  Creating a “social media voice” that provides consistency in style and tone will allow your brand to communicate consistently across various platforms.  It’s important to consult multiple departments of your business (not just marketing) to help create it, too.  The voice should be consistent with your corporate culture, within the legal guidelines of your company and the social media space, and appropriate for the audience you’re trying to reach.

Give a Little, Get a Lot

Don’t just allow fans, friends and followers to talk to you online.  Engage with them in two-way dialogue and allow them to help shape your brand.  If you’re going to be on multiple social media platforms, give people unique content on each.  Once you have a presence, you’ll want to decide how you’ll measure success.  How do you do that?  That we’ll save for another post …

At NST, you’ve heard us talk a lot about strategy.  Whether it’s writing a news release, creating a brand position or managing a crisis situation, strategy is at the core of what we do – and with social media, strategy is equally as important. But what does “developing a social media strategy” really mean and how do you “do it?”

Setting up a social media strategy involves many components, including listening to the social media dialogue, determining the best platforms for your company or organization based on your particular audience (NOTE: Facebook and Twitter aren’t for every company), thinking through your online voice to ensure it is consistent with your brand, setting benchmarks and determining how you will measure success, among other factors.

While all these steps are important, a recent WOM-COMM course led by Blake Cahill at Visible Technologies underscored an important component of developing a social media strategy that people often overlook — drawing your virtual line in the sand as to what you will and will not do in social media prior to engaging. Cahill talked about defining “actionable content” and “blacklisted content.” In other words, what topics in social media will you respond to and which ones will you let be?

Like all social media efforts, nothing is set in stone, and there is no cookie cutter approach; however doing some of this upfront thinking will save your team time and energy in the long run. Here are three simple steps to help you get started:

1. Ask yourself, “what are some of the most common issues we encounter as a company?” (reminder: listening to the online dialogue will help you answer this).
2. Then, think through how you will respond, making sure those responses are consistent with how other areas of your company may respond to a similar issue, i.e. if a customer complains on Twitter, your response should be consistent with that which would be given if a consumer were to dial a 1-800 customer service number, or send an e-mail complaint to your company via the Web.
3. Put this all together – along with your key messages – into a social media response guide, which can be used by anyone communicating on behalf of your company. This should outline what you will and will not respond to along with common or sample responses (NOTE: I can’t emphasize enough that this should be a guide, not a document to merely cut and paste from).

Cahill gave the following examples of “actionable content” and “blacklisted content.”

Actionable Content
•    Posts with positive, neutral or mixed sentiment
•    Posts written within the past 5 days, or that still have active comments
•    Posts where users are asking questions or requesting more information
•    Posts that contain inaccurate information about your brand
Blacklisted Content
•    Posts that are flaming, raging, or use excessive profanity
•    Posts that are older than 5 days, or no longer have active comments
•    Posts on sites “X,” “Y,” and “Z,” which prohibit corporate participation
•    Pricing discussions

If you are considering entering the social media space, it’s important to walk through this process. At NST, we’ve seen it be extremely successful.

WOM-COMM is a certificate program by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

The first two substantial Twitter updates of the year – the Local Trends feature and updated Suggested Users List – may help make your experience on Twitter a little more personal.  Let’s take a look…

The new Local Trends feature allows you to see what conversational trends are popular near you.  As of last week, however, there are currently 15 cities available for users to select.  Dallas, Houston, San Antonio… Three cities from Texas, but no San Diego?  I’m sure America’s Finest City will be one of the next cities added – they can’t ignore our TwitPower for long – but in the meantime, let’s move on to Twitter’s other big change.

Two weeks ago, the Suggested Users List on Twitter was overhauled to recommend tweeters based on categories of interest, instead of just their perceived popularity.  This is a departure from just having a standard list of people users are encouraged to follow, most of whom are talkative celebrities.  Those lucky few celebrities and others on the list got to appear on every new users screen, and most saw astronomical jumps in the number of users subscribing to their tweets (The Guardian went from having 4,000 followers to 66,000 followers in the one month after being put on the list, according to Twitter Counter.)  Needless to say, folks like Scobleizer and myself were surprised we were not on the list, and began to have feelings of jealousy, anger and self-loathing.  After all, Twitter was giving those tweeters an unfair advantage – free advertising – while we were working hard to build a solid base of followers.

For the most part, that’s changed now, although the feature still has room for improvement.  When I looked through the music category, for instance, I still saw an assortment of artists whom I have no interest in following.  Perhaps my eclectic taste in music messed with Twitter’s complex algorithms.  Perhaps I don’t follow enough people.  Either way, the change does make things more organized, which is good news – especially for new users.  Maybe coupling the two new features together, once they’re launched to everyone, will give me local artists, politicians and sports stars I’ll be interested in following.

For marketers, knowing where people are and what they’re interested in can be very helpful, so do these changes signify Twitter getting more marketing-friendly?  I’d say it’s two small steps for the Twitterverse, not a giant leap.

A major fundraising milestone was set this past week, as the American Red Cross Mobile Giving Campaign for Haiti has raised more than $21 million in text-based donations in less than one week. A landmark campaign, not only because of its creative use of America’s growing obsession with text messaging, but also because the organization used its established presence on social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, to kick-off the fundraising effort, which quickly “went viral.”

To help the victims of Haiti's recent earthquake, you can make a $10 donation to the American Red Cross by texting the word “HAITI” to 90999.

As our hyper-connected society becomes more comfortable communicating through devices and social networks than via phone or face-to-face interactions, this social media/technology campaign makes it easy for consumers to become donors by breaking down common barriers to participation. It uses a format that Americans are closely familiar with, and requests a relatively reasonable donation (a comfortable $10 for those still feeling the effects of the recession) without having to pick-up the phone or find an Internet connection.

As NST’s Director of Social Media Teresa Siles mentioned in a News and Smart Talk blog post in July:

“Digital trends expert Steve Rubel has said, “An entire generation is growing up that will never dial a 1-800 number to reach customer care.”

And while Rubel’s comments focused on customer service, the same concept can be applied to picking up a phone, or logging on to a computer to make a donation.

Kudos to the American Red Cross, who despite being a nearly 130 year-old institution, has kept up with America’s changing habits to execute one of the most successful social media fundraising campaigns for a nonprofit organization in recent history. The Red Cross’ success has already spurred some imitators, and is sure to inspire nonprofit fundraisers throughout the country to start incorporating more technology and social media as fundraising tools.

Will it work for every nonprofit organization? No. But it’s a great testament to the power of blending social media and technology, and understanding the barriers to getting your key audiences to take action to help those in need.

How many bloggers should you be reaching with your social media outreach? Hundreds? Thousands? Not quite, according to the folks at Ivy Worldwide who led a recent WOM-COMM course. Thirty seems to be the “magic number,” according to the firm. But that doesn’t mean any old 30 bloggers will do. It’s about finding the “right” 30 (or so) that have influence to help carry your message.

It’s important that brands do their homework to listen in and find out who the influencers really are. Identifying bloggers can be done simply with a Google search, or you can use more advanced social media monitoring tools to listen in. The blog search engine Technorati, which is free to use, will help you determine the popularity and influence of certain blogs as well. No matter what tools you use, learning who is talking about your brand/issue/etc. is key. By finding the right people who are truly influential, they can help carry your message – if you have a word of mouth-worthy story to tell.

Don’t go overboard trying to find and outreach to every person who ever wrote about your product or service. Find the right people, and make sure you know the rules of the road when it comes to blogger outreach.  This white paper on blogs has some information that may be helpful. Since it was written, there have been important changes to the FTC guidelines that impact how brands work with bloggers. It’s important to be familiar with these guidelines, or risk the consequences.

WOM-COMM is a certificate program by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

I was at a holiday party last weekend talking to a group of strangers in bad turtleneck sweaters about college football and a festive Christmas loaf, when somebody asked what I did for a living.  After explaining that I work in public relations, a slightly intoxicated rube of a man exclaimed, “Traditional PR is dying before our eyes!”

Nearly spitting out my eggnog, I launched into a spirited 30-minute dialogue with the outspoken salesman – discussing public relations, social media and customer service, and how each relate to consumer brand management.  My new holiday friend’s chili was burning white hot over his belief that traditional PR, “for all consumer brands,” is being quickly supplanted by social media and direct-to-consumer engagement and customer service.

My retort was sharp-edged and concise – if PR hasn’t always supported a brand through consumer engagement and customer service, then it was bad PR to begin with.  And, social media – albeit a crucial PR tool – is still just one tool in the PR toolbox.

As we refilled our nog and moved into the kitchen, the conversation locked on the relationship between social media and customer service, and the role or “lack of” for public relations professionals in reputation management for consumer brands.  I agreed that social media is unquestionably changing the way consumers and brands interact in real time, however, if there was ever a time and a platform for PR to fulfill its mandate to improve brand RELATIONS with the PUBLIC…this is it.  I grunted with mild disdain that PR will not be devalued by social media efforts in customer service, but rather act as a planner, facilitator, counselor and tactician across social media efforts in customer service.

As my new friend stuffed his pie hole with meat and cheese from a holiday sausage sampler pack, I did my dandiest to explain that although I understand the excitement and appreciate the fervor associated with the social media Groundswell, it’s a gargantuan misstep to disregard the importance of public relations and a well-rounded communications strategy for consumer brands.   PR is about building and managing relationships among target audiences, and for consumer brands there are a diversity of relevant tools used to do this – social media, experiential marketing, grassroots community outreach, traditional media relations, crisis communication, etc.  All play a critical role in building and managing relationships and reputation.

Yes, I had a bit of bourbon in my nog and probably needed to be knocked off my PR soapbox at this particular holiday soiree.  However, this encounter with the misinformed salesman adversary reinforced my firm belief that all of us working in public relations need to do a better job of educating our employers, co-workers, clients and brand managers that PR and strategic communication means far more than landing a story in the local paper or trade magazine for a job well done.  Word.

SHP December: Them Crooked Vultures

The Global Language Monitor recently announced the most used word of 2009. Any guesses on the word? #hint — the word is “Twitter.”

So, what’s all the hoopla about? NST developed a white paper that examines the basics — what it means to “follow” someone, what the heck a retweet (RT) and hashtags are, and what this #followfriday is all about – as well as some more advanced topics, including reasons for your business to join Twitter and things to consider before entering the Twittersphere. Here are some tips for success taken from the paper, but we encourage you to read the full Twitter white paper.

1. Think about what you tweet – Choose your characters wisely (you only have 140), and make sure your tweets tie back to your goal.  Chris Brogan, co-author of “Trust Agents” suggests instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?” answer the question “What has your attention?” This will make sure your tweets entail more than what you are eating for lunch.
2. Listen regularly – Listening is critical. Don’t forget this important step. Listening should be done not only before a Twitter effort, but also on a regular basis.
3. Don’t ignore your bio – Filling out your short Twitter bio is free and easy, but it is also very important. Mat Leonard in the Search Engine Journal says your Twitter bio is actually your meta description, which shows up in search engines. Choose your bio words carefully, and use important key words and phrases in your bio. Also, upload a photo of yourself – people like to know who they are tweeting with online.
4. Have fun, and show it in your Tweets – Speak casually and candidly. No one wants to hear a boring talking head. Leave behind the marketing speak, and show your Twitter personality.
5. Don’t be afraid to retweet – If someone you follow tweets something of interest to you, then retweet it. Twitter is all about sharing. By retweeting someone, you are building a relationship with that person and helping define what your brand on Twitter is all about.
6. Tweet often … but not too often – Managing a Twitter account is a commitment. If you can’t commit, then don’t do it. Most of NST-managed Twitter accounts tweet at least three times a day, and we are constantly monitoring for brand mentions or opportunities for engagement. Remember, no Twitter account is worse than an inactive Twitter account. Conversely, be careful not to over tweet, especially with self-serving messages and links. The last thing you want is to look like a spammer.
7. Get linky – Sharing links is a key part of making yourself valuable on Twitter – and this means linking to content other than you own, when appropriate and when you think it provides value to your followers.
8. Promote your Twitter presence ¬– Put your Twitter handle on your e-mail signature, on your business cards and in other places where you promote your business.
9. Chose your followers – You don’t need to follow everyone who follows you. You should only follow people who are interesting and provide value. If they don’t meet this criteria, unfollow them and remember they will do the same to you, if you don’t remain relevant. Use Twitter search engines like Tweepz.com or Tweepsearch.com, or directories like Twello.com or WeFollow.com to find followers that interest you.
10. Do more than just talk; take action – If fielding customer service issues via Twitter (you may be doing this even if it isn’t your main goal), it is important that the person managing the account has the ability to actually solve customer service issues. Replacing defective products, sending out coupons when appropriate or issuing refunds are a few examples of “taking action” on Twitter.

If you are considering a Twitter account for your business, this paper should help get you thinking, and – of course – we’re here to help. Happy Tweeting!

How you approach journalists and bloggers affects your ability to reach key influencers and achieve a positive, measurable outcome.

This was the focus of the webinar held a couple of weeks ago, How to Pitch Journalists in a New Media World, headed by Brian Solis, (@briansolis) principal of the new media and public relations agency FutureWorks, and David Pogue (@Pogue), tech columnist for the New York Times.  NST recently sat down to discuss the information presented in the webinar and our own pitching tactics.

In the world of new media, Solis and Pogue urged that if PR professionals want to reach consumers through journalists, bloggers and other social media platforms, they need to change the way outreach is done.  Connections and relationships with the media cannot be made unless people in PR understand the needs and interests of the people who they are pitching.

Injecting the mentality of “what’s in it for the reader” into the process of writing releases and pitches is more important than ever.  In order to craft a quality news release, it is important to know what information is newsworthy and why it would be newsworthy to a media outlet’s readers or viewers.  Our staff has long adhered to a writing model developed by our founder, Kerry Tucker, that is used in everything created at NST from news releases, to pitch letters, to press kits. The format is all about presenting information in a compelling way to elicit behavioral change. Through this model, we’re able to meet the needs of readers, and relationships with media can be formed while increasing the likelihood of coverage.

It is important to not only reach out to the traditional media sources in broadcast and print but also to search out the trust agents in new media because many of them reside outside of traditional media outlets.  People now look to bloggers and to Twitter to find their news and get real opinions about products, companies and trends.  Reaching out to the right trust agents means that the right consumers are getting the information.  At NST we have discussed the importance of finding these reporters in the new media world and understanding not just the beat of each reporter or blogger, but what topics interest them.  It is important for PR professionals to do their research and to look at some of the most recent articles or blog posts written by a reporter to truly understand if they would cover their client’s news or what about the news would be of interest to the reporter.  Even if your pitch is newsworthy, it won’t get coverage if it lands in the hands of the wrong reporter or blogger.

Outreach to the new media must not only be targeted, but PR professionals need to use new avenues available in social media, such as Twitter, to pitch the message. By researching the current social media trends, NST can confidently pursue alternative forms of media outreach as well as stay on top of who is the current influential in a given market.  The difficulty, of course, is finding these influentials in the new media world of Twitter, blogs and Facebook.  At NST, we find the trust agents listening to conversations on social media platforms and we often share tips for finding groups and for creating meaningful interactions on these outlets.

Crafting targeted releases, reaching out to appropriate media contacts, and using social media to find trust agents is ultimately how PR professionals can spark interest, join the conversation, create meaningful and long-term relationships with the media, and, most importantly, it’s how PR remains relevant.

Once a year, Nuffer, Smith, Tucker gets together for its annual staff retreat. It’s a time when we reflect on the past year, discuss trends in our industry and look toward our future. This year (Dec. 4), we reviewed our vision, mission, core values and ethics policy, before spending the afternoon doing team building exercises.  NST president Bill Trumpfheller also talked about what’s ahead in 2010, in a discussion that included Snuggies and optimism.

“It’s been a year of chaos,” said Bill, who noted that many PR agencies endured staff cuts and salary reductions (NST thankfully not included). “But I’m optimistic about the future. There is growth opportunity, particularly with social media … and PR is poised to drive this growth.”

Social media was a hot topic at the retreat, as we discussed the need to remain strategic not only in our social media efforts, but in everything we do.

Bill also reminded the team of some important milestones this year: we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of Dairy Council of California as a client, the 15th anniversary of McDonald’s of San Diego County as a client, and 15 years representing WD-40 Company.

So how do Snuggies fit in? Well, anyone who works at NST can tell you that our office suffers from a bit of a temperature control issue, causing many people on the staff to be donning winter coats and heating pads at their desks. Each year at the retreat, we also get a staff present. This year, management decided a Snuggie with the Nuffer, Smith, Tucker logo was the perfect solution. While an untraditional gift, I think many people on the team were secretly filled with joy.